1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to information display devices, and more particularly to an apparatus for displaying procedural information cards on a computer video monitor or other piece of equipment, in a cashiering area or other workplace space.
2. Discussion of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR §§1.97, 1.98
Office workers, retail associates and other personnel routinely place instructional information in the immediate vicinity of their workstation. Commonly, such material includes personalized employer or manufacturer provided instructions regarding software use, policy, procedures, or other information. For the purposes of this disclosure, such material will be generally termed procedural information.
The prior art includes numerous devices for attaching items to a computer display device. However, until the present inventor disclosed an inventive mounting apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,456, hereby incorporated by reference herein, there remained a need for an apparatus that enables a computer user to position a maximum amount of utilitarian and decorative items in his or her field of view near the display screen. The '456 patent teaches a display card mounting device for attaching an instructional card holder directly to a front bezel surface of a computer display. The apparatus can be used in connection with attachable/detachable cards, for training personnel to use computers. The display cards may include tips and hints for using popular word processing programs, spread sheets, proprietary software programs, or other information pertaining to products and services. The display cards may include printed indicia showing, for example, a summary of useful software commands such as “short-cut” control sequences for triggering commands or scripts for customer service representatives.
Typically, the cards and the mounting apparatuses are employed as training aids to assist personnel or students in learning new material. Without the benefit of the system of the '456 patent, companies often trained personnel, and schools trained students exclusively by providing user manuals and requiring the personnel or students being trained to learn the software commands by directly consulting the user manuals. Such user manuals are expensive and need frequent replacement with each software upgrade. For proprietary software, such upgrades may be frequent and such user manuals may be quite expensive, resulting in significant costs. Also, when personnel are required to learn by consulting user manuals, the time required to effectively train the personnel may also be significant. In particular, the personnel may be reluctant to frequently consult a potentially cumbersome user manual which often is not easily accessible, and therefore may not learn the necessary new material quickly or efficiently. Hence, human trainers are often employed to expedite training, resulting in still further costs.
With the system of the '456 patent, display cards containing, for example, a summary of pertinent software commands, are provided for mounting directly to the computer display. To learn the pertinent procedures, personnel being trained merely consult the display cards. Depending upon the information provided on the display cards, it may be completely unnecessary to provide a separate user manual. Hence, the costs associated with providing new user manuals or providing supplements or inserts to existing user manuals are substantially avoided. Rather, only the costs associated with providing the relatively inexpensive display cards and the mounting apparatuses of the invention may be incurred. Such is particularly desirable when training personnel to use proprietary software subject to frequent upgrades which would otherwise require obtaining frequent, and possibly expensive, user manual updates. Moreover, by eliminating the need to consult cumbersome user manuals, personnel being trained may be trained much more quickly and efficiently, further reducing training costs. In many circumstances trainers may no longer be required.
With the system shown in the '456 patent, the display cards are mounted parallel with the display screen of the computer such that personnel being trained can easily reference information by simply glancing at the display cards. Hence, the speed by which new information provided on the cards can be consulted is greatly increased. Also, personnel being trained are simply more likely to consult reference information when such reference information is provided immediately adjacent to, and parallel with, the computer display, than when provided separately. Hence, training time can be significantly reduced.
Depending upon the amount of information required to be summarized, several display cards may be provided to personnel or students. With the system of the '456 patent, the display cards are tabbed and pivotally mounted such that personnel or students being trained can easily flip to the card containing the desired information. Also, the display cards are mounted to the display screen of the computer using semi-ring card holding members such that the cards can be quickly replaced with new cards to accommodate changes, or to add cards for new procedures. Cards may be replaced selectively either individually or several at a time, and this results in substantial savings if and as card content changes.
Although the display card system described in the '456 patent represented a significant improvement over predecessor systems, room for improvement remained, and the present inventor taught and disclosed such improvements in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,209,246 and 6,430,856, each of which were progeny of the originally filed disclosure for the '456 patent, and each of which are incorporated in their entirety by reference herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,246 discloses a card assembly for use with a computer display device which includes at least one card and a card holder for holding the card. In addition, the card assembly also includes a mounting unit that is connected to the card holder. This mounting unit rigidly and detachably affixes the card holder to the computer display device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,856 teaches a card assembly with a pocket for use with a computer display device. A variety of mounting systems are provided for mounting display cards, photographs, or other material to a computer display device of a computer system. The display cards may include printed indicia showing, for example, a summary of useful software commands for use with software programs running on the computer system. In one embodiment, a pair of mounting units or hinges are provided for pivotably mounting the display cards to the computer display device so that selected cards may be pivoted into a position adjacent to a front surface of the display screen for ease of viewing. In another example, a transparent pocket is provided for receiving the display cards, with the pocket being pivotably mounted to the display device via the mounting units. By providing a pocket, the display cards are protected while in use. Also, the display cards need not include any mounting holes or other attachment elements for direct attachment to the mounting units. Rather, any suitably sized and shaped display card, photograph, sheet of paper, or the like may be inserted within the pocket for pivotal mounting to the computer display device via the mounting hinges.
As with the more recently issued '246 and '856 patents, the present invention is also directed to providing further improvements in the art.
The foregoing patents reflect the current state of the art of which the present inventors are aware. Reference to, and discussion of, these patents is intended to aid in discharging Applicants' acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be relevant to the examination of claims to the present invention. However, it is respectfully submitted that none of the above-indicated patents disclose, teach, suggest, show, or otherwise render obvious, either singly or when considered in combination, the invention described and claimed herein.